Once My Flame and Twice My Burn [entries|friends|calendar] Eva Naliwajko [ userinfo | greatestjournal userinfo ] [ calendar | greatestjournal calendar ]

Daddy [08 May 2006|10:40pm] Boredom strikes again in a tiny desert town where few people even knew her name. Eva had found out, rather accidentally, that the sloped plaster walls of her attic bedroom in the rundown house her former manager had found for her were soft and easily marred. She had since created a very cute puncture-hole owl in the wall (dots connected with black permanent marker over the 1950’s era wallpaper) with the long handle of a broom and was working on putting in a branch for him to sit on when her cell phone began buzzing on the plastic storage tub that served as her nightstand. The loud echo of a ringtone had taken to startling her in the quiet house, so she kept the phone on vibrate. She glanced her watch as it began to buzz, curious as to who would be phoning so late in the evening. She had spoken to her parents during their requisite daily phone call after dinner, some hours before. “Hello?” she answered, having noted the home phone number on the caller display. Her mother’s choked voice on the tinny connection dropped a lump of ice into the pit of her stomach. “Eva, beba, you must come home now,” she said. Eva, frozen, did not reply. Her mother’s grasp of English had always been the worst in the family, suffering more so when she was upset. The stilted, choked voice on the other end was scaring her. “Beba, please… Tatica needs you now, you must come home,” her mother continued. Eva’s eyes went wide with fright. “Daddy?” she asked, the single word questioning enough. Her mother started to cry on the line. Eva was in the car and on her way to Mesa in five minutes flat. Be Heard

Amateur [29 Jun 2005|08:22pm] It really came as something of a surprise. Eva had always assumed that a Slayer's abilities were mostly inherent. She wasn't very schooled on the subject, of course; what little she knew came from the singular text she had on the subject, a book she had eschewed to touch since her last reading. Her ideas were sketchy at best. A Watcher, she had thought, was not necessary. No matter the particular threat, the Slayer should have the physical capability to combat it without any outside help. Not that Eva had any plans to play the hero, but if the need arose? She considered herself more than capable to handle any threat. So finding herself flat on her back on the dusty ground of a graveyard with one snarling beastie leaning over her and another on its way was something of a shock. Apparently, vampires weren't keen to "fuck off" when instructed. It couldn't have been more than a second that passed before Eva realized that if she let things come to this, she could be in real danger. Never mind the very real danger she was currently in, of course. It was the future danger she was more concerned with. After all, these two seemed young. Time ticked by at a pace too rapid for her liking. How long had she been down? She tried to spring back to her feet but was again knocked down, this time the unnatural power of two vampires to pin her there. More seconds, just trying to keep hands and teeth away from her skin, and it seemed all was lost. But there was the blade, the switchblade. It had appeared so suddenly among her belongings that she wasn't quite sure where it came from at all, but it was damn handy when the need arose. Not enough to kill, but just enough to maim. She popped a vampiric eye out of its socket in the scuffle, before the two lost the nerve and let her be. Battered and bruised, walking home, she fumed silently to herself. She wasn't ready. She needed help. Be Heard

Delusional [25 Mar 2005|11:01pm] [ mood | awake ] [ music | Further Seems Forever - Bye Bye Bye ] She was more prone to using her hands. Maybe it was just a little quirk that all Slayers had, a tendency to rely on one physical strength more than another. Eva didn't put much thought to other Slayers, so she hadn't really thought about it before. But it occurred to her that night, while pummeling some idiotic vampire that had tried, of ALL things, to lure her to an Easter mass at some creepy church, that she was more prone to using her hands. She was pretty sure she had broken its nose, and was pretty pissed that she had split open her knuckle in the process. "God damn it!" Eva spat out angrily, realizing by the twinge of pain in her hand that the blood spilling down the sleeve of her denim jacket was her own. The vampire froze in place, staring at her with a wide-eyed, scandalized gaze. "Don't take the name of the Lord in vain!" he hissed. Eva stared at the creature with a mixture of amazement and confusion on her face for a split second. It wasn't really a good idea to freeze in the face of a piece of demonic scum like that, but she couldn't quite help it. "WHAT?" she finally asked. "Dude... you're a vampire. You should be out biting necks and being a nuisance. Not playing Jesus Freak. Moron." "But if you don't accept Christ's love into your heart..." the vampire started. He would most definitely be in the Son's good favor if he could convert a Slayer. Eva rolled her eyes. There wasn't even that much fight in this one. The last had at least tried to kill her a couple of times before she dusted him, even though she too had started spouting the religious rhetoric at the beginning. She almost felt kind of bad, hitting him and all. He just kept standing there. It seemed almost cruel to just dispatch him without going through the motions of a fight to the death. Almost, anyway. Eva had lost her stake on the first vamp - it fell somewhere and she didn't bother to go looking for it. Truth be told, she had been heading home after what she felt had been a pretty good night of patrolling. But a good Slayer always had a back up. She reached up the sleeve of her jacket. There was nothing there, not at first. In spite of the emptiness of the sleeve – Eva hadn't set one finger on a stake before that night and she didn't have a single one in her home – Eva felt her hand close around a pointed piece of wood. There hadn't been anything there, but Eva believed there was. And then, there it was. The vampire seemed rather surprised as he began to dissolve away into a scattering of dust particles; the last word on his lips had been "Christ". Eva shook her head, muttering a few obscenities about ‘crazy Christian vampires' and heading home for the night. Her Watcher had sent her to Searchlight for a reason; maybe this was it. Be Heard

[14 Mar 2005|09:28pm] [ mood | annoyed ] There was a cat. Or maybe a coyote. Or hell, a bird, something, god only knew. Whatever it was, it was in pain and it was yowling outside of Eva's window. Three stories up, sitting on her air mattress and watching reruns of Law and Order on TNT, she could hear the thing, whatever it was, screeching for all it was worth. It was enough to drive her completely nuts. She kept muting the television and peering down out her nearest window, but there was nothing there. It was like staring down into a bottomless pit; the dark of night obscure the ground and whatever might be making the noise. Plus, the caterwauling (or, coyoterwauling, or birderwauling, whichever made the most amount of sense) would stop whenever she tried to figure out what it was. Which left only one option: actually drag her ass off of the air mattress, go downstairs, go outside, and check it out. Eva really would prefer not to – it seemed lately that every time she left the house, someone approached her with the word ‘Slayer' on their lips and it was something she'd rather not think about – but she was going to lose if it she didn't find out what the noise was. She stepped quickly down the stairs, ignoring the fact that she was dressed only in the t-shirt she had been planning to sleep in and a pair of sneakers she had stepped into on her way out of her attic bedroom. The quicker she got out, the quicker she got back in. Opening the front door, she stepped outside and immediately tripped over a parcel on her front stoop. Swearing to herself and rubbing her newly skinned knee, her attention was taken from whatever it was that had tripped her as movement in the corner of her eye drew her gaze. She glanced up just in time to see something small and furry running away at top speed, out of the range of the motion lights that Joel had made sure to be installed on her home. Great. Just great, she thought to herself. Sitting on the front porch with no pants on, a skinned knee and not even getting to see what the hell was serenading me. Great. The mystery object, she discovered upon standing up, was a book. It looked old and had a title that made Eva certain it was a gift from someone she had met in town. Who exactly, however, was debatable. Vampires and demons and Slayers and Watchers. Just spiffy. To top it off, stuck inside the front cover was a snotty little note reading "You should read this. You probably need it." Grumbling to herself, Eva tucked the book under her arm and went back inside, slamming the door behind her. At least she'd have something to do when Law and Order was over. Be Heard

Learning Experience [21 Feb 2005|09:58pm] [ mood | weird ] Another night, another nightly jog. There wasn't much scenery for the endeavor, not like there had been in Vegas, but Eva made do. She passed Unseen Insight twice, looking for Emmy, but spotting only a man she didn't know. Oh well. Her stomach growled as she went past a diner and it stopped her; she pulled the headphones out of her ears, hoping that she wasn't too sweaty, and stepped inside. Jason Toren had gone into Searchlight for his weekly check up on the town. He'd hit a couple snitches, see what was going on, but so far, nothing very interesting had come up. It was the end of the day, and he was going to head out, but he was feeling peckish. If he waited til he got back to Vegas, there would be gourmet delicacies by the pound, but he was hungry now. So he went into the diner in Searchlight. He was sitting in a booth when the bell above the door jingled. He looked up and did a double take. The girl who walked in was familiar, and not from Searchlight. He watched her as she got settled in. ( Opportunity Knocking ) Jason was hoping to keep that last part in her mind as she thought about the whole thing. With her old career gone, maybe he could give her a new one. Be Heard

Sass [16 Feb 2005|08:56pm] [ mood | aggravated ] Eva sighed in annoyance, arms crossed over her chest, keys dangling from one free hand and clinking gently in the impatient motion of her fingers against her side. She had spent a good hour or two poking around the rundown old house Joel had so kindly procured for her and decided to get out for a while; her first stop had been Unseen Insight, but not seeing the friendly shopkeeper inside, she continued on her way until a rumbling in her stomach led her to the local McDonald's. Which turned out to be just about the only crowded place in town. To top it off, the staff seemed to have the collective IQ of a plastic fork, and things were moving slowly. Eva found herself smack dab in the middle of a long line, huffing loudly in annoyance every few minutes and casting glares at anyone who might dare look at her. Destiny looked around the restaurant, picking up a quick bite before her first patrol in a long time. The line was normal for Searchlight. One of the kids was having a party here today and she smiled as the girl wore her tacky sequinned crown. The only thing that was ruining her nice calm everyday moment was the fact that she was standing behind a dark-haired girl who kept making impatient noises. Immediately, Des knew that she did not like this girl in the least. One of those "shit don't stink" kinda girls. And she looks awfully familiar. As usual, her thoughts came out of her mouth unbidden. "Excuse me, ma'am? If you don't think the ambiance or service is up to par, there really isn't anywhere else to go in Searchlight. So I would stop the huffing and wait in line like everyone else." ( Opinion ) ( Patience ) Be Heard

It's All In the Cards [15 Feb 2005|10:02pm] [ mood | curious ] Eva walked slowly down the sparse business area of Searchlight, taking in the sights and wondering what the hell she was going to do with all her time there. It seemed almost deserted, even for a small town. She had expected to see one or two people milling the streets, but there was no one there at all. The sun was high in the sky and though it was far from being considered a warm day, the beating rays of the sun caused some discomfort after having spent much of her time in an overly air-conditioned hotel for days. Eva could feel the heat seeping through the soft cotton of her shirt and the thick denim of her jeans as she walked, eating a very unhealthy lunch of greasy potato chips out of a plastic bag, wiping the salt and grease on the back of her jeans as she went. The only place in the world that could feel almost as much like home to Emmeline than the ramshackle house she was renting-to-own was her shop. She had spent all morning just looking the place over, inspecting her books and shelves and little magickal trinkets, brushing dust away from her Tarot table and smoothing out the cloth, passing quiet conversation with Liam as he went about his business. It's good to be home, she thought to herself with a small smile. ( Rubbish ) ( No Rhyme or Reason ) ( Past, Present, Future ) Emmy smiled, thoughts drifting fondly to Jo, the first soul she had met when she arrived in Searchlight. "It's quite alright, I do know the feeling," she admitted, standing up. "And Eva, you're always welcome here in the store. There are several people who work here and they're all very friendly. This was a good place for you to stop. We're all friends here." Eva smiled back, nodding. If nothing else, the reading had reassured her. Just a little. Be Heard

Smile [11 Feb 2005|07:46pm] [ mood | anxious ] [ music | Frank Sinatra - I Won't Dance ] It would have been impossible to up and leave, even the with reporters on her ass anywhere she went. Eva hadn't been staying in her condo, but at a hotel to throw them off. It was... tough. She didn't like being in some sterile hotel room. She wanted to be in her own place, with her own bed and her goldfish. But, she had to make do. It was her fault she was in this mess, anyway. Without her personal training room to work off the buildup, or a trip to her usual gym - the fucking reporters were camped out there too - she had to jog. She was starting to feel the way she used to, when she was a kid. When everyone else was sweaty and tired after Phys. Ed. and she was ready for another ten laps in the pool or another game of basketball. Anything to take off the pressure, get the energy out of her system. If she didn't, she'd go crazy. So, she jogged. Headphones in her ears, attached to an MP3 player, blasting some very atypical jogging music - or so it might seem to anyone else. But as far as Eva was concerned, Frank was the best for just about every activity out there. Besides. His voice soothed her, sort of. Calmed the nerves that felt like tiny pin pricks against every surface of her body, inside and out. Something's coming. Eva paused on the street in the warm glow of a streetlamp, pressing two fingers to her throat and glancing at her watch to check her pulse, just like Joel had taught her. It seemed a little too fast, faster than the average person might be, but then, that had always been the norm for Eva. She could still feel it, a strange sensation taking her entire body by force. It made her feel stronger and yet still somehow more vulnerable. For the first time since her jog began, Eva realized how deserted the streets seemed. It was quiet, late. She had wandered into a seedier part of the city without realizing. She wasn't afraid, no, not afraid. But it felt... different. It wasn't something she was used to feeling, not in big city like Las Vegas. It reminded her vaguely of something long forgotten. A camping trip, when she was a little girl, and her family had taken a weekend to go into the woods of Maine. Looking up to the sky while flooded with the quiet and solitude of the forest, Eva had felt very small, and very alone. She felt that now as she looked up into the sky. The glitz and glamour of Vegas blotted out most of the stars, but the moon was still there, a little sliver of silver beaming down at her like the shining smile of the Cheshire Cat. She shivered. The other must have been there for some time, because she moved out of the shadows so quietly that Eva just barely heard it. Eva whirled around to see the... the thing coming at her with a shining fang smile. Eva hit. It was all she knew to do. It didn't stop it, the thing kept coming. But Eva just kept hitting. Because she knew it wouldn't die. But she knew it would get tired. If she hit and hit and hit as hard as she could, eventually it would stay down. Just like the last one. Later that night, washing out the blood that had clotted on her high school class ring, Eva felt herself shudder. It had been so long since she had an... episode. The only one she ever told, the counselor at school, said it was a psychological projection. She had demons she wanted to kill in her own mind, so she saw the demon face on some poor person who happened upon her. That had to be it. There was no other possible explanation, was there? Eva just hoped that whoever it was, she hadn't killed her. Be Heard

Shadowboxer [10 Feb 2005|09:59pm] [ mood | depressed ] Eva picked absently at the tape on her knuckles, not meeting his eye as he spoke. She should be training; this meeting had come right smack in the middle of her requisite daily escape to the gym. But she knew very well, not only from the papers and the reporters haunting her every step, but from the tone of Joel's voice as he spoke, that there would not be call for training for some time. "We don't have to worry about lawsuits," he said in a quite voice, straining to comfort her as he spoke. "All the contracts and paperwork were in order before the fight. The family might try a wrongful death suit in a civil court, but it won't fly." Eva bristled at that word - death. That made it real. It was easier to pretend that Sherry would just be waltzing out of the hospital with a bandage on her temple, just aching for a rematch. But that would never happen, not now. Eva knew that. That word just drove it home. Sherry was dead. She had killed her. It was her fault. Twin tears prickled in her eyes. "Listen, Eva, this is a risk all you girls take," Joel went on, still trying to rationalize it, to make it all right. Some part of him, Eva was certain, understood that it would never work. Nothing would make it ok. It would be a part of her now, forever. Eva shook her head. "I knew it, Joel. I knew it was too hard. I knew it when I threw it. But I just couldn't stop it." Joel looked suddenly alarmed. "Listen. Eva, you can't go around talking like that. You'll get yourself in trouble." Eva finally looked up to meet his eyes, the tears spilling from her eyes. "I already am in trouble, Joel. I killed her. I killed Sherry. I knew her, Joel. We trained together. And I killed her." He frowned. "Eva. She knew it was a possibility. It could have just as easily been you." Eva shook her head again. He was wrong. It wouldn't have been her, never in a thousand fights, in a million even. It wouldn't be her. She was stronger than that, she always had been, from the very start. And Joel knew. He knew she was too strong. He knew all along. He had been her trainer for four years. He had been with her the day she broke a girl's jaw in a training fight. He knew she was strong, and he knew she couldn't always control it. She thought she could, that she could temper that raw strength she felt in her hands. That she could soften the blow and not really hurt anyone. But she hadn't managed it that time. When she threw the punch, she knew it was wrong. She knew she wasn't holding back. She hadn't done it on purpose, but she couldn't stop it once she did. Sherry was dead because of it. The officials had been over it all, reviewed the tapes over and over again, searching for an answer. But Eva had followed the rules. The hit hadn't been illegal, no illegal moves all night. A fluke, they called it. Sherry leaned in at just the wrong time, caught the force of the blow in just the wrong place, and now she was dead. And accident. But it didn't feel like some freak accident now, not to Eva, not as she stared at the hands that had killed her friend. "I think you need to get some time away," Joel reasoned, still using that quiet voice. "Wait til all the hoopla dies down. Relax, have a vacation." "You think I could relax now?" Eva asked him. Joel sighed. "Eva, you have to. You can't do nothing here in Vegas. The reporters are gonna be on your ass wherever you go, and no one's gonna sign you for a fight until this dies down. I found a place you can cool off, close enough to the city that I can come see you sometimes." Eva looked up, almost shocked. "You're packing me off?" she asked. She knew there would be heat to face when she saw Sherry hit the mat, but she never expected this. He was abandoning her. "It ain't like that, Eva, you know that," Joel replied, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. "Listen, it's a nice place. Little mining town nobody know about or cares about. You can hide out, wait til the heat dies down. By this time next year, you'll make a big comeback." "Next year?!" Eva nearly shouted, completely aghast as she stood up so quickly her chair flipped backwards and landed with a clatter on the black marble tile of his office floor. She knew it would take some time, but that long? She would have to leave her life, her family, her friends... "Eva, you killed the girl," Joel said, looking more wounded than he sounded, hands folded on his desk as he spoke. "That's gonna be a while with the news, you know that." Eva sighed, righting her chair and sitting down. He wasn't just blowing smoke. "Fine. Where am I going?" she relented. "Little town called Searchlight, couple hours away," Joel told her, handing her a road map he pulled out of his top desk drawer. "I had my secretary highlight the roads for you. She's got an envelope for you, grab it on your way out. House keys, car keys. Got you a nice little place, set up some training room in the basement. Your things can be shipped within the week." Be Heard

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